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Is Social Media the New Playground for Identity Thieves

Chino, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/17/2013 -- Identity theft is already America’s fast growing crime. Last year alone, more than 9.9 million Americans were victims of identity theft, a crime that cost them roughly $5 million. With the continued rise in popularity of Social Media with websites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, that number is expected to grow as thieves look to hack more social media accounts.

Below are some of the common ways that you might be putting yourself at risk of identity theft:

- Using low privacy or no privacy settings
- Accepting invitations to connect from unfamiliar persons or contacts
- Downloading free applications for use on your profile
- Giving your password or other account details to people you know or don’t know
- Participating in quizzes which may require you to provide personal information
- Clicking on links that lead you to other websites, even if the link was sent to you by a friend or posted on your friend’s profile
- Falling for email scams (phishing) that ask you to update your social networking profiles

"Thieves are more sophisticated than ever, and no longer rely on just physical data such as check stubs, junk mail, and so on. They can access your personal computer, bank account, social media profiles, without you ever knowing it,” said Franklin Peck, Care Ultima's CEO. "As social media grows, so does the size of their playground, so we must be ahead of the curve and better prepared".

Care Ultima is now making available the exclusive ID Safe Choice program for its members across the United States. Loaded already with over 16 other major services including discounted health and wellness, lifestyle, and identity theft services, the ID Safe Choice program will provide members an additional $1,000,000 insurance policy to all account holders. The policy can be extended to up to three dependents in the family that may also live in a household. With an annual value exceeding over $575 a year, this new insurance policy will come at no additional cost to Care Ultima members.

Care Ultima has developed solutions for key areas of health, lifestyle and everyday needs. Significant discounts also include:

- access to physicians by telephone who can diagnose and write prescriptions, when appropriate